Murray State University’s Department of Music percussion ensemble performs fall concert

By Rachel Welch | Nov 6, 2026

MURRAY, Ky.  — The Murray State University Department of Music percussion ensemble  will perform its fall 2026 semester concert, “Woodcuts,” on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Hall of the Old Fine Arts Building. The concert is free and open to the public.

The percussion ensemble includes 12 students from six different majors across campus. Jacob Abernathy of Gilbertsville, Kentucky, Samuel Rudy of Murray, Kentucky, and Abbie Tompkins of Madisonville, Kentucky represent the music education program, while Olive Denton of Paducah, Kentucky, Issac Ekins of Murray, Kentucky and Tyson VandenBrook of Murray, Kentucky are all music composition majors. Aang Conner of Murray, Kentucky is a music performance major, Pluto Beal of Paducah, Kentucky and Alyssa Foster of Paducah, Kentucky are psychology majors with music minors, Graham Gerard of Prospect, Kentucky and Meredith Colston of Belton, Kentucky are music majors, and Molly Patterson of Evansville, Indiana is a social work major. All of these students have come together from their various disciplines to prepare for the Nov. 10 concert.

“Woodcuts,” the concert’s title, refers to the various timbers of wood-based percussion instruments that will be used during the performance.

Dr. Connor Viets, assistant professor of percussion at Murray State, states that this concert is “an attempt to highlight the beauty and energy (that wood), this seemingly simple material, can produce.”

The program will also explore a variety of styles such as ragtime, tango and contemporary in order to highlight different rhythmic possibilities of wood instruments.

Pieces included in the program include  birdfrog  by  Sebastian Zhang,  Bulldog  by Andrea Venet,  Log Cabin  Blues  by George Hamilton Green (arr. Becker),  Millennium Bug,  Mvt. I  by Giovanni Sollima,  Music for Pieces of Wood  by Steve Reich,  Rancho Jubilee  by Andrew Beall and  Sculpture  in Wood  by Rüdiger Pawassar.

Alongside the students’ performances, this concert will include a special showcase of  Histoire du Tango,  Mvt. I (Bordello 1900)  by Astor Piazzolla, performed by Viets  and Dr. Stephanie Rea, professor of flute at Murray State. This piece is intended to show how two instruments which both frequently find their origins in wood interact, and to highlight their incredible sounds.

For more information on this event or other Department of Music events, visit the department’s website at murraystate.edu/music.